Chinese Academy of Sciences sets up HK Light (Hong Kong Internet Open Exchange Point)
On November 22, 2004, the Beijing – Hong Kong section of the “China-US-Russia Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications Development ?GLORIAD?” was upgraded to 2.5G, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences formally announced a plan to establish the next generation light wave “Hong Kong Internet Open Exchange Point —HK Light”. This is the first Open Exchange Point in Asia and will serve as a venue where high-speed broadband Internet networks from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan Province of China will interconnect.The China-US-Russia GLORIAD ring network, inaugurated in January 12, 2004, via direct optical fiber, begins in Chicago at the Starlight facility, continues to Seattle, crosses the Pacific Ocean to HK Light and Beijing Light, continues through northeast China and Siberia, then continues to the facility at the Russian science city of Novosibirsk and Moscow Light, and to the Netherlight facility in Amsterdam, then crosses the Atlantic Ocean to New York, and continues to Chicago Starlight to complete the circuit, forming a “closed ring”. The ring network has adopted advanced optic-based transmission technology with an initial rate of 155Mbps. Completion of a 2.5?bps light wave closed ring network around the Northern Hemisphere is planned for early 2005 to support international cooperation in scientific research and education. With the development of online science and education applications, the network rate will be further upgraded to 10Gbps. The Beijing-Hong Kong upgrade to 2.5 Gbps is the first step in Asia towards this goal**. “Before long we are expecting that HK-US will be upgraded to 2.5 G” said Dr. YAN Bao Ping, Director of the Computer Network Information Center (CNIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences.
GLORIAD, since its inauguration, has provided scientists in China, the U.S., and Russia with an important tool for their research and has contributed significantly to the development of many key cooperative projects in high-energy physics, astronomy, atmosphere, and life science. As computing and model simulation become an integral part of scientific research, the GLORIAD network is taking on an expanding role in advanced scientific applications, allowing scientists in Asia-Pacific region, North America and Europe to share scientific data, instruments, computing services and software and to coordinate their research.
“HK Light is the first Open Exchange Point in Asia. We are committed to operating HK Light based on a spirit of openness and cooperation”, said Dr. Yan, “and we believe that this open exchange point will serve as a confluence of international networks to improve the regional network traffic.” HK Light will not only be an important point in the GLORIAD network, but will also serve as a key Internet exchange center in the Asia-Pacific region. The establishment of HK Light is a giant step for CNIC to undertake, and this is a significant contribution to the regional Internet network development. “Scientists and science educators are grateful to CNIC for taking the lead in this area,” said Dr. William Chang, Senior Program Manager, U.S. National Science Foundation.
The CNIC will undertake the construction, operation and servicing of HK Light, with technical cooperation from Starlight in Chicago and Netherlight in Amsterdam. CNIC is responsible for the computing and network service to all laboratories under CAS?operation management of CSTNet, and providing large-scale scientific computing and data services. It now expands its service to research institutes outside the CAS system in China and works cooperatively with high performance computing institutes in East Asia and the Pacific and in the United States.
**The current network speeds are : Beijing - 2.5bps - HK; HK - 155Mbps - Chicago; Chicago - 2.5Gbps - Amsterdam; Amsterdam - 622Mbps - Moscow; Moscow - 155Mbps - Beijing
Background Information:
“GLORIAD” is the short form for“Global Ring Network for Advanced Applications Development, which was sponsored jointly by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Russian Ministries and Science organizations for the purpose of supporting the advanced applications of the three countries and the rest of the world, and supporting research on the next generation of Internet. The Computer Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, and the Kurchatov Institute of Russia are responsible for construction and operation of GLORIAD network.
